It's a...

GIRL!



Emily and I went to get the ultrasound today and it's a girl. Isn't she beautiful?! OK, so she looks a little bit like Skeletor right now, but I'm sure she's beautiful. Hopefully she takes after her mother.

We're Not Afraid

I learned about this site on the news last night. Pretty neat idea that evidently is gaining popularity. Some are very artfully done and others tug at the heartstrings. And apparently The Spice Girls aren't afraid, either :). And some are pretty silly, but nevertheless, a collective finger to the terrorists.

Day Trip

Today, Em and I went to Columbus to celebrate our 5th anniversary (that happened last week). We went to a bookstore called "The Book Loft". She figured I'd like it since I seem to love a good book. Even though every book I get just sits on the overcrowded book shelf. I have just resigned myself to the fact that I'm building up a collection to read to keep me busy when I retire. Oh how I wish I had the time to read more. Anyway, this place was a book store the size of a Barnes & Noble, but packed into a space the size of an attic. It was a maze (and horrible to think, a firetrap) of rooms upon rooms of books. Pretty charming little place, but I'd hate to be there if it was really busy. There's hardly any room to walk past anybody.

We met up with her brother and his wife at Fujiyama Steak House. It was a nice little Japanese restaurant with the Hibachi right in front of you. This was the first time in the last 3 times I've been to one of these type restaurants that we actually had a Japanese cook. The last 2 times, we went to Benihana in different cities and we had a Middle Eastern fellow and a black guy before that. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, just not expected. The Japanese cook tonight was much more entertaining. Is it weird that I thought my Grandfather and the cook's father may have been trading shots 60 years ago? I don't know why, but thoughts like that go through my head sometimes.

Woo hoo!

There was speculation over the last few days that Emily's sister was pregnant again. She called me today and said, "Yeah, I'm pregnant. Bye.", and hung up. I laughed and called her back. Evidently, I was the first person she told. Then I gave the phone to Emily so she could tell her, too.

I was hoping for this because their son is almost 1 1/2 years old, and I always thought it would be fun to have kids that were the same age and it looks as if that will happen! Sweet! Man, there's gonna be kids all over the place.

COWARDS

Another senseless loss of life at the hands of terrorists. My mother and her new husband were visiting London just a few weeks ago. I'm glad this didn't happen while they were there.

What do these idiots hope to accomplish? The "masterminds" send their underlings with weak minds to blow themselves up while they are sitting comfortably at home. I hate to see Tony Blair going through this now. God bless him and England, too.

My Latest Passion

I'm not as car-crazy as most people, but I just can't seem to get enough of these cars: http://www.zcar.com. The Z-car of the month pictures are fun to look at.

My dad had a 1976(ish) 260Z when I was a kid (it looked alot like this one) and then got a 1992 300Z, but he recently sold it. One of these days, I'm going to get one of the old ones. I've been checking out eBay auctions for Z-car items like books, emblems, etc. It seems there are quite a few out there like me that still have a love for these cars.


By the way, haha, Paris.

Black Cloud, Part Two. The Happy Ending.

We went back to the restaurant where I suspected that I lost my jacket and ate lunch after church. Just for the heck of it, I looked at the coat rack, and lo and behold, I noticed the familiar zipper of the jacket poking out from under a shirt that was hung over it. Sure enough, it was my jacket. The checkbook was still in the inside pocket with all the checks intact. I wish I could thank the good samaritan that hung it up for me without rifling through the pockets first. It's good to know there's still some good people out there. And for it to stay hung on that coat rack for over a month with nothing happening to it is pretty unbelievable.

Look at me, trying to take interesting photographs. I wish I had an eye and a sharper picture. This picture is quite sharp on my computer, but it doesn't download very well, evidently. I envy this Chris Glass guy. He knows how to take great pictures and how to make them look great online. Any suggestions to me would be most welcome. I am a techno-idiot. I'll try another picture...

...Are you too good to tango with the poor poor boy

Every once in a great while, an album comes out that is great from start to finish. Aha Shake Heartbreak is the latest winner of that designation, joining the likes (in my book, anyway) of the Afghan Whigs' Black Love, The Tragically Hip's Phantom Power and Tori Amos' Scarlet's Walk among a few others. I rarely hear an album that pleases the ear from start to finish. There's usually some filler that you always have to skip past.

As usual, I'm late on scene as this record was released in February. I was recently turned on to Aha Shake Heartbreak by a random mix that I got from the Poker King, AKA Butter of 69, AKA Clemsonfan's husband (Thanks, Butter, if you ever read this). He included the song "Taper Jean Girl" and I was hooked.

I'm no music critic and I can't put together a rousing commentary (actually, this is my first written critique), but this is a great collection of songs that will make you smile and tap your foot uncontrollably. Some even gave me a good belly laugh. Like in the song "Velvet Snow" and toward the end of "Soft" where the singer, Caleb, just seems to go crazy. I would love to have seen how animated he was in the studio as he was recording this song. It's great stuff. I'd like to point out a high point to the CD, but it's all high. I guess if I had to, though, it would be the drum intro in the song "Razz". I love a good crazy drum beat.

I was kind of leary of putting this CD in the same category as the 3 others mentioned above because this is a new one to me and sometimes the attraction to a new CD wanes after a while, but I think this is one that will also stand the test of time.